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No bones about it: Silent Scope returns to Japanese arcades
After more than a decade, Konami's fan-favorite sniper simulation franchise Silent Scope is making a return to the arcade with the decidedly anime-styled Silent Scope: Bone Eater. What peering through the lens of a high-caliber rifle has to do with munching skeletons is anyone's guess, but according to the intro cinematic seen above, Bone Eater bears all of the series' trademarks: a reduced, simulation-style field of view, bonus points for long distance headshots and endless legions of nondescript thugs unwittingly begging for a bullet through the brain pan. According to Siliconera, Silent Scope: Bone Eater boasts network connectivity, allowing up to four snipers to work together to dispatch enemies. Bone Eater is currently in development for Japanese arcades, with an estimated launch date of later this year. An international arcade release is possible, though given the dearth of arcades elsewhere in the world, it's unlikely you'll ever see a Silent Scope: Bone Eater machine outside of Japan. [Image: Konami]
Report: Layoffs at Day 1 Studios following canned Konami deal
One hundred employees were fired at Day 1 Studios following the loss of a publishing agreement with Konami, according to a report at Gamespot. Those 100 workers made up 95 percent of a team that was developing a new installment of Konami's ancient Silent Scope series; a second, much smaller team working on an unrelated secondary project remains unaffected. So far there has been no indication of what led to the cancellation of the developer's publishing deal, although the fact that the team was primarily fired instead of disolved and reassigned within the company speaks volumes about the importance of this deal, as well as Day 1's overall financial situation. The only way we'll know what actually happened is if either party decides to talk, which hasn't happened yet. Maybe Konami realized that Silent Scope games never worked well outside of the arcade and decided to pull the plug? Maybe Day 1 tried to relaunch the brand as an action-RPG stealth-shmup pixel-art XBLIG title? There's really no way of knowing.
Konami's iPhone games on sale for one dollar each
Konami has marked its entire slate of iPhone/iPod Touch games down to just .99 -- the magic price point at which we're willing to try something, even if it's Silent Hill: The Escape. Now is the time to satisfy your curiosity about Metal Gear Solid Touch or Krazy Kart Racing! Well, maybe you could download the demos first to satisfy your curiosity, and then buy the games if you feel there's a chance for even one dollar worth of enjoyment. The full selection of Konami games includes (iTunes links): Dance Dance Revolution S+, Dance Dance Revolution S, Frogger, Metal Gear Solid Touch, Silent Hill: The Escape, Krazy Kart Racing, Power Pros Touch, Silent Scope, and Field Prowlers Police Rush! This deal is active in the US and Canada. We're checking with Konami to find out how long the offer will be available. [Thanks, Jordan!]
Silent Scope coming to iPhone
If you were an arcade dweller in the very late '90s, you probably remember Silent Scope as "that game with the big fake gun that zooms in when you look in the scope." If you were an enterprising TV reporter doing a half-baked story on video games that are training our kids to be killers in the past decade, you likely remember Silent Scope as "my B-roll footage."Now, the game is making the leap to a gun-free version on iPhone. It's a bummer that it's losing that great peripheral, but we're actually pretty excited about the prospect of pushing our iPhones to our eyes and peering through them like some sort of confused, high-tech sea captain.
